Worldwide, Rugby Union boasts 500 million fans and 10 million players within 128 national member federations affiliated through six regional associations. The driving force behind the sport’s significant growth has been World Rugby’s portfolio of major events, from the flagship men’s and women’s Rugby World Cups and U20 Championship to the excitement of the men’s and women’s Rugby World Cup Sevens and HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series which are instrumental in attracting new fans. Plus, Rugby Union is now an Olympic Games when it returned to the Olympic Games program at Rio 2016 with rugby sevens and, of course, rugby sevens is also a Commonwealth Games sport. In Australia, Rugby Australia is the sport's national governing body and is a member of World Rugby, Oceania Rugby, and SANZAAR. In Australia, Rugby Australia is the sport's national governing body. It essentially arranges it’s commercial program around three pillars – the classic 15-a-side teams, for both men and women, the newer sevens teams, for both men and women, and classic wallabies, a program for past players. It is an exciting time for Rugby Australia as they have a huge calendar of events coming up over the next 10 years or so with both Men’s and Women’s World Cups, multiple Olympics and Commonwealth Games, and a British and Irish Lions tour. Today, James Durbin, Chief Commercial Officer, takes us inside sponsorship at Rigby Australia. If you would like to connect with James, you can do so on LinkedIn and you can find out more about Rugby Australia at www.rugby.com.au Enjoy.

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